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Surrey Six trial judge dismisses bid to throw out conspiracy charge

Accused Surrey Six killer Cody Haevischer

Photograph by: Handout
, Vancouver Sun

METRO VANCOUVER - The prosecution in the Surrey Six murder case won a significant victory Wednesday when a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed an application from one of the accused to throw out the conspiracy charge he's facing.

Justice Catherine Wedge ruled against a motion by accused killer Cody Haevischer to toss the conspiracy count for lack of evidence.

Wedge said that while she agreed there was no direct evidence of Haevischer's involvement in the conspiracy to kill rival drug trafficker Corey Lal, there were enough pieces of circumstantial evidence to infer he was part of the plot.

Wedge said a conspiracy — which is a separate charge from the six murder counts both Haevischer and co-accused Matt Johnston are facing — amounts to a "consensus and meeting of the minds" before the crime being committed.

"My role at this stage is to assess the evidence of a whole to determine whether its cumulative effect supports a reasonable inference that Mr. Haevischer knew of the plot to kill Mr. Lal before the murders occurred," Wedge said.

She pointed to several pieces of evidence led by the Crown over several months — that Haevischer was a member of the Red Scorpions, the gang behind the plot; that he was close to Johnston, who had a major role in the planning; and that he disclosed what happened to Red Scorpion founder Michael Le after the murders of Lal and five others.

She also highlighted the testimony of Haevischer's former girlfriend, identified only as KM, who said her boyfriend was "puttering" around their one-bedroom apartment as she helped Johnston and another man clean guns just before the murders.

"Taken as a whole, I conclude the evidence is reasonably capable of supporting the inference that Mr. Haevischer had knowledge of the conspiracy before the murders occurred. It may not be the only inference that can be drawn. It may not be a strong inference. But it is reasonably available on the evidence," Wedge said.

Wedge explained that for a "no evidence" motion, a judge only has to determine there is some evidence available without assessing it to the same degree as she would for her eventual verdict.

"In summary, regardless of the ultimate strength of the Crown's case on the conspiracy charge against Mr. Haevischer, I am satisfied that the evidence taken as a whole could reasonably support a verdict of guilty by a properly instructed jury," Wedge said.

The Crown closed its case May 20.

The defence is now making several applications before deciding whether to call witnesses on behalf of Haevischer and Johnston.

The Crown alleged both left Haevischer's Surrey apartment on Oct. 19, 2007 with a man dubbed Person X and drove in KM's leased BMW over to the Balmoral Tower, where the trio executed brothers Corey and Michael Lal and associates Ryan Bartolomeo and Eddie Narong, as well as bystanders Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg.

X has already pleaded guilty to shooting three of the victims and is serving a life sentence.